RIM branching out into security software for iPhone, Android

After struggling to gain an edge over its competitors with its BlackBerry smartphones and tablets, Research in Motion has conceded some ground to Apple and Google with the announcement of Mobile Fusion, upcoming security software for the iPhone and Android.

Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM said on Tuesday that the device management software should arrive in the late March. Though the company declined to provide a price for the application, RIM vice-president for enterprise product management did say that it will be "competitive" with rival offerings.

According to the announcement's press release, RIM is looking to "bring together" its BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology for BlackBerry devices with mobile device management (MDM) capabilities for iOS and Android onto a single web-based console..

Reuters reports that Mobile Fusion will help "corporate IT staff to set and monitor rules for passwords, apps and software on a range of devices," including Apple's iPad and iPhone and devices running Google's Android mobile OS.

"What our enterprise customers are looking for, and the opportunity for us, is to become the de facto platform," Panezic, told the publication in an interview.

Panezic went on to say that the company would take "full advantage" of security capabilities on each platform. "We're not going to hold that back in any way, shape or form," he said.

According to the report, the software "will manage RIM's PlayBook independently from" a BlackBerry smartphone, though that will require a PlayBook software update, which is due out in February. RIM released the PlayBook this spring, declaring that "amateur hour" was over, but the tablet has failed to gain momentum.

Some analysts were skeptical of the move into the multi-platform MDM marketplace. "It will help stem the tide of those companies that may have considered eliminating their BES but it won't help sell more phones," said Gartner analyst Phillip Redman. "That's what they really need to do."

RIM made a name for itself selling its BlackBerry smartphones and accompanying services to businesses and their employees, but the company has faltered as of late. Recent reports suggest that Apple has chipped away at RIM's core business as enterprise clients have increasingly taken to the iPhone and iPad. Recent data from Good Technology, an enterprise security solutions firm that RIM's Mobile Fusion will compete with, shows that enterprise users have a "clear preference for Apple products," though Good's numbers do not include RIM devices because they use RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

Earlier this year, investors called for the ouster of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-CEOs and co-founders, characterizing them as "stuck in the past." In order to appease investors, the company formed a committee to investigate its corporate structure.

The handset maker announced in July that it would cut around 2,000 jobs, about 10.5 percent of its workforce. RIM disappointed Wall Street with shipments of 10.6 million smartphones and 200,000 PlayBook tablets last quarter, as profits slipped 47 percent. According to comScore, RIM lost 5 percentage points of U.S. smartphone market share between May and August of this year, falling to 19.7 percent.

Embarrassing outages for RIM's BlackBerry services have not helped the company's cause. Last month, an outage that lasted as long as four days prompted RIM to formally apologize for the downtime and offer customers $100 worth of free apps. Weeks later, RIM revealed that it was investigating more complaints of user service troubles.

With just $1.4 billion in cash as of last quarter, RIM is scrambling to turn itself around, betting heavily on its BBX operating system. A recent leak purportedly revealed the "BlackBerry London," the first BBX-based smartphone. The device is expected to arrive in June 2012.

Hmm. There were some rumours flying around a while back of RIM testing BBM for Android and iOS. Now we hear about this. Is it possible RIM is preparing a contingency plan for a potential BlackBerry-free or BlackBerry-backburnered future?

Hmm. There were some rumours flying around a while back of RIM testing BBM for Android and iOS. Now we hear about this. Is it possible RIM is preparing a contingency plan for a potential BlackBerry-free or BlackBerry-backburnered future?

RIM owns the Certicom IP on elliptic curve encryption, still considered the best solution for corporate use. I could be wrong but this is the reason law firms and the like are not abandoning BBs en mass yet. But this could give them an alternative previously not available.

Stop with the wisecracks for a minute and let's think this through strategically. IT managers want their platforms safe and secure while being easy to administer. Company employees are putting on enormous pressure to use iPhones rather than obsolescent Blackberries. Would RIM stand and watch corporate IT customers abandon their platform entirely, because running multiple platforms is a ticket to failure? Unless RIM opens its platform to other devices, the mass corporate defections will sabotage any chance for RIM to have a future market for its (hopefully) upgraded handsets.

I admit to being a Fanatical Moderate. I Disdain the Inane. Vyizderzominymororzizazizdenderizorziz?

I understand where they are coming from. Their physical products are failing so they have convinced themselves that their real strength/value-add all along was security, and this can be ported to other vendor's platforms.

It is typical CEO thinking, however security belongs at the OS layer, not the app layer, the one fly in the ointment. Maybe on PC, apps can install kernel drivers etc and usurp all kinds of OS duties, but not on mobile. It just won't work due to installation restrictions.

These tech CEOs need to consult with their engineers before announcing their epiphanies.

Why?
Apple will fix any security issues with an update much faster (and for free) than any security software will.

By 'security software' they mean a secure environment for access to corporate resources such as mail, messaging and files that assures that the data is completely wiped in the event of termination or device loss. Access to data without actually downloading to the device.

Stop with the wisecracks for a minute and let's think this through strategically. IT managers want their platforms safe and secure while being easy to administer. Company employees are putting on enormous pressure to use iPhones rather than obsolescent Blackberries. Would RIM stand and watch corporate IT customers abandon their platform entirely, because running multiple platforms is a ticket to failure? Unless RIM opens its platform to other devices, the mass corporate defections will sabotage any chance for RIM to have a future market for its (hopefully) upgraded handsets.

Even if this proves useful, and it's just coming out, so we don't know if it will, it's a major danger to RIM.

No matter what they do with BES, RIM still makes most of its money through hardware sales. This is akin to Apple licensing OS X to other manufacturers. Will they make more from the software than they will lose from hardware sales? If so, then it's not a good idea.

Right now, both Android and iOS phones have moved ahead of the BB in corporate use (when their numbers are added together). This is a trend that will continue. This supposedly addresses that trend by giving RIM some advantage in selling software. But Android and iOS are moving the BB out of the corporate world without this. So the question is whether it is needed. If it moves the BB out sooner, then it will be seen as a big mistake by RIM, one of many they've managed in the last three years.

In addition, there are more disturbing trends for RIM. An article about mobile communications in one of the computer/business sites recently had the author mention a conference he was giving a talk in. The talk was aimed at CIO's. He asked them how many had BES servers in their company. Almost all raised their hands. Then he asked how many expected to have them in three years. None raised their hands. If this is a look at the future for RIM, they won't survive. Perhaps the venture is aimed at preventing this from happening. I don't see it working.

Even if this proves useful, and it's just coming out, so we don't know if it will, it's a major danger to RIM.

No matter what they do with BES, RIM still makes most of its money through hardware sales. This is akin to Apple licensing OS X to other manufacturers. Will they make more from the software than they will lose from hardware sales? If so, then it's not a good idea.

Right now, both Android and iOS phones have moved ahead of the BB in corporate use (when their numbers are added together). This is a trend that will continue. This supposedly addresses that trend by giving RIM some advantage in selling software. But Android and iOS are moving the BB out of the corporate world without this. So the question is whether it is needed. If it moves the BB out sooner, then it will be seen as a big mistake by RIM, one of many they've managed in the last three years.

In addition, there are more disturbing trends for RIM. An article about mobile communications in one of the computer/business sites recently had the author mention a conference he was giving a talk in. The talk was aimed at CIO's. He asked them how many had BES servers in their company. Almost all raised their hands. Then he asked how many expected to have them in three years. None raised their hands. If this is a look at the future for RIM, they won't survive. Perhaps the venture is aimed at preventing this from happening. I don't see it working.

Thanks, Mel. The end of your third paragraph gets to the heart of it. Follow the Apple model of not licensing its operating system, or hope that licensing forestalls a significant number of companies from abandoning their RIM platforms outright? The situations aren't directly comparable, so, yes, this is a real wait-and-see strategy.

I admit to being a Fanatical Moderate. I Disdain the Inane. Vyizderzominymororzizazizdenderizorziz?

Thanks, Mel. The end of your third paragraph gets to the heart of it. Follow the Apple model of not licensing its operating system, or hope that licensing forestalls a significant number of companies from abandoning their RIM platforms outright? The situations aren't directly comparable, so, yes, this is a real wait-and-see strategy.

I thought BES brings in most of their profits...the hardware is just a vehicle to sell more BES licences.

Once RIM realizes it, they will slowly drop new hardware. In a couple of years Win Phone will be ahead of them (hardware wise) and they will never catch up to Android and iOS.

Might as well catch on to the trend now and port their BES / BBM software to iOS and Android. At least that will keep the company going.

I thought BES brings in most of their profits...the hardware is just a vehicle to sell more BES licences.

Once RIM realizes it, they will slowly drop new hardware. In a couple of years Win Phone will be ahead of them (hardware wise) and they will never catch up to Android and iOS.

Might as well catch on to the trend now and port their BES / BBM software to iOS and Android. At least that will keep the company going.

No, hardware makes most of their profits. But their margins have been dropping drastically as the average selling price of their phones continues to drop. Their gross used to be 60%, now it's closer to 40%. This is a direct result of phone sales dropping in developed countries, and rising in less developed ones, and third world countries where only their cheaper models sell.

But if this continues, then BES will be responsible for more than half of their profit.